


Minding the Gap

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Ageism, Coulson does not think about age, F/M, Flirting, Locked in the closet trope, Older Man/Younger Woman, Skye doesn't like being treated like a child, UST, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 01:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2292401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coulson and Skye come to see eye to eye in a discussion about their age difference.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Resorting to buying ammo on the sly at the local superstore was bringing to mind the long list of deficiencies he had been cataloging.

Thankfully it was rural and they took cash.

Standing there in his t-shirt and cargo pants, he watched the younger man behind the counter i.d. Skye and give her a very thorough once over.

"We good?" he asked her, making a disapproving glance at the cashier when the man looked up at his voice.

"Just about," she replied, turning to eye him being impatient as he went back to checking incoming communiques on his phone.

"Don't worry, I'll speed things up for pops here," the man joked with a slight leer at Skye.

Skye blinked twice and her eyebrows went together as she smiled and leaned behind her, brushing her hand over Coulson's as he glanced upward, annoyed at the intrusion.

"Honey," she said brightly, putting her hand on his arm. "Can you put that thing away for five minutes and help me carry this out?"

Coulson shrugged and obediently slapped his hand on top of the ammo boxes, sliding his other under, then lifted, tucking the top one under his chin.

"You are so, _so_ helpful," Skye said, then looking back at the cashier. "He just loves to help me. With _whatever_ I need."

She spun around with a bag in her hand and headed towards the door as Coulson followed with the boxes.

When they reached the parking lot, he managed to get the keys of the rental out of his pocket and unlocked the doors.

"What was _that_ about?" he asked as they loaded the backseat of the SUV.

"Did you hear that guy?" she said, narrowing her eyes. "Implying you were my dad? Eww."

"Skye, I'm twice your age," he said casually, shrugged, winced slightly at the hint of disgust in her voice.

"You don't look _twice_ my age," she frowned. "And anyway it's...rude, to assume things."

"Thank you for being offended on my behalf," he smiled, a little relieved, looking over at her through the open door.

" _Your behalf_?" she replied, raising her voice. "How about 'Look at the cute wittle girl buying ammo with her daddy' bullshit?!"

She slammed the door.

"Oh."

"Yeah,' _Oh_ ," she said, moving towards the front near the hood to look at him across. "I am a grown woman," she went on, pointing at herself. "Seriously, screw that guy."

He looks back at her patiently.

She holds her hand out for the keys.

This was just one of many areas that had boundary lines in various stages of redraw with new SHIELD.

He sighed and tossed them to her.

They buckled up as she turned the key.

"And why are you so resigned to being old?" she suddenly blurted out.

 "He didn't say 'old'," Coulson said, flustered.

 "He called you _pops_ ," she said flatly.

 "In that case, turn the truck around."

 "What?"

 "I'm going to kick his ass."

 "Coulson..."

He leaned back in the seat and looked over at her.

"I don't care what that guy thinks, Skye," he said. "Besides, it's just less trouble."

"Less trouble?!"

"...Than trying to explain," he continued. "We're covert it helps to roll with their assumptions. Even rude ones."

"If hanging out with you in public means getting treated like..."

"Context, Skye. If we were in Moscow at the symphony people would assume something different altogether."

"That I rented you for the evening?" she shot back as he chuckled.

"While that's incredibly flattering," he smirked. "Skye, no."

"I haven't had such a great track record with the younger set, and maybe I can afford someone who knows what he's doing?"

He gives her the look.

"That sounds more like a deep cover scenario," he finally answers.

"Deep, _deep_ cover," she replies, lowering her voice.

He just shakes his head. "Not taking the bait."

"Bait?" she scoffs. "We are discussing potential undercover scenarios like two professionals."

"No, no, that is not what this..."

His phone starts to buzz in his pocket and he answers.

As she stops at the light, she can hear him talking, hear May's even, measured muffle from the other side.

"Hey, _hey_ ," she says, as he glances at her. "Can you reach behind me and get the gummy bears?"

He brushes her away. "Yes, of course," he continues talking. "We're two hours away max. Got it. Right."

She starts driving.

"We'll touch back in at 0600," he adds, looking at her to make sure she's paying attention to that detail.

Hanging up, he gives her a stare and reaches behind him exaggeratedly, grabs for gummies out of the plastic bag.

"So what did May...," Skye starts then sees the gummies in the front with him, whispering. "The reds are my favorite."

He reaches in and pulls out a red gummy, hands it towards her, then pops it back in his mouth at the last minute.

"Hey!" she says, staring back at his taunting expression.

"Time to put your theory to the test," he says to her.

"And pull over I'm driving."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Coulson plan the mission.

"You'll just be my much younger girlfriend," he says, as they speed down the road toward Maryland.

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" she asks, looking up from the tablet.

"Because, we can do the other thing."

"No, not really," he replies without a second thought.

"Because it's a mission," she asks, prying, wanting reassurance.

"Just not something I've given a lot of consideration to," he says eyeing her expression then frowning, staring back at the road.

" _Never_?!" she answers, dubious.

"Not a lot," he says, more honestly, hesitates, then. "My last girlfriend was younger than me."

"Like how much younger?" Skye asks, turning to him with her full attention.

"Enough."

"So, did people pull the dad card on you?"

"Once. We laughed about it, I guess."

"Are you sure she didn't want to punch them in the face?" she said earnestly.

"Not really her style," he replied, mulling Skye's angry reaction.

"Well as your _much younger girlfriend,_ "she said with a tilt of her head, pushing down on the tablet. "I will pledge my best to not punch anyone."

"Don't over promise. Gloves come off for HYDRA," he said, nodding at her.  "What's the scenario?"

"Private dinner $5,000 a plate. Hot tip about HYDRA handing off Chitauri tech, we traced the purchase of the metal from our bust in Mozambique. So we pay this nice couple a visit," she said turning the pad towards him so he could see their faces, "And then do our Mr. and Mrs. Smith routine. I'm looking over the blueprints for the venue now, I'll plan a route out and a backup."

"Down and dirty it is," he said, eyes flickering over her busy arranging the details.  "Does the age thing bother _you_?" he asked a moment later.

"What?" she said, looking up suddenly, half-listening.

"Does it bother you?  I mean, that you're..."

"No," she said, like she was just thinking about that for the first time.  "I don't really think about your age at all.  I mean, I _did_ make that crack about Lola that one time," she said, rolling her eyes.  "But that wasn't about you, and anyway, I was wrong about Lola, because she's definitely not old, she's... _cool_."

Coulson was staring at her, with his hands on the wheel, mouth slightly open.

"Skye," he said very quietly, "I was actually talking about _your_ age.  Not feeling like you're being taken seriously..."

"Oh," she said, hugging the tablet to her chest and smiling back.

He shook his head a little and turned his eyes back towards the road.

"Look, I lived in an orphanage, I was in and out of foster care, and people talked to me all the time like I never knew what was really going on, or like I couldn't understand for myself or make decisions. It got old _real_ quick.  And add to that," she said, shrugging and putting the tablet down in her lap, "That I look younger, I mean, I _always_ get carded, I'm just tired of people not treating me like an adult."

"Makes sense," he said, listening, wanting her to continue.

"And just because I'm _nice_...?" she said, shifting in the seat to turn towards him.

He looked back at her and smiled warmly.  "You _are_ nice."

"I've been on my own since my teens.  I've been hacking since I was eight, and all these adults pretending that _they're_ the gatekeepers or something?  What a joke.  When I was on the Bus with Ward, he wouldn't let me have a gun, he wouldn't let me practically _pee_ on my own, he treated me like a child, and when I dared to tell him what I really thought, he handcuffed me and..."

"Fuck Grant Ward," Coulson said, looking over at her, frowning.

"Yes. Indeed," she answered, sitting back in the seat.

"I'm sorry," he said, regaining his composure, watching her regain hers.  "That you didn't get to be heard.  And you're right. I've gotten used to it, being an older field agent, people say stuff.  But, you know what that feels like.  And maybe I shouldn't just blow it off."

"If I _ever_ hear someone calling you old," she said, fired up.

 "You'll punch them in the face?" he finished.

"Probably."

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson and Skye are trapped in a closet.

"We can't stay here," she whispered towards him, his face lit by the light of her cellphone.

"I thought you said they cut off our access to the East exit? We're just waiting it out."

"Is that your new strategy? 'Sitting duck'?" 

"Hey, when you've run ops for 20 years..."

"If I run ops for _5 minutes_ I can tell this is a not a strategy, it's like crossing our fingers.  And why are you bringing up the age thing?"

He shifted around uncomfortably, turning all the way around to face her in the small closet.

"Age is _not_ experience, there _is_ a difference," he said.

"I don't want to have this conversation right now," she replied, trying to cross her arms, but finding no room for them and getting flustered. "This building was built in the 1700s and I guess they didn't think they'd ever have the _experience_ of getting locked in a closet, did they?!"

"Well," he started, his mind connecting the dots a little too easily.  "Maybe they didn't want out...?"

Skye froze.  "Is your new strategy _groping in the dark_?"

"No," he said with a hush, trying to get her to lower her tone. "I'm just having a conversation between two professionals about..."

"Right. Okay, I get it," she replied, detecting the smug note in his voice.

"Are you feeling guilty about how the op turned out?" he asked.  "Because..."

"No," she said with a shush. "We have what we came for," she said, kicking the metal case near her feet.  "Besides, this room wasn't in the floorplans."

"Did my putting my hand on your leg earlier throw you off?"

"I thought I handled that pretty well."

"It was just part of the cover," he added, paused.  "Maybe there's a trigger inside the room?  A secret passage?  Sometimes these older buildings have them."

He started feeling along the walls.

She listened to see if they could hear any other motion in the corridor on the other side of the door.

"Maybe we should bust the door down?" she suggested.

"Maybe," he whispered.  

And when he reached for the back wall, his breath brushed against her ear.

She turned and could feel him there, exchanging breaths in the near dark.

"Hello, Mr. Director," she said.

"Pulling rank is much more effective than age," he said, stirring a bit. "At least for me."

"I've no use for rank," she replied. "At all."

"What about age, then?" he asked, staring back at her.

"Experience?" she answered.

"This is good," he said, suddenly taking shallower breaths. " We should probably never do undercover together...then."

His nose brushed against hers.

" _Right_ ," she replied, catching her breath.

" _Right_ ," he said with a swallow, leaning forward.

Click.

Skye felt the wall behind her move and a draft.

Coulson's finger was pressed against a crook in the wall.

"Looks like we found a way out after all," she said cheerfully, smiling, bending to pick up the case.

"If you say so," he sighed under his breath.

He followed her light into the dark of the tunnel.


End file.
